THE LESSON—That true success will attend those who found their lives on the principles which governed the life of Washington.
Properly handled, the illustration designed for the following talk will prove a revelation to young and old. The application fits the illustration so well that the talk should prove of absorbing interest and lasting impressiveness.
The Talk.
[Before beginning the talk, make the following preparations very carefully: Attach several thicknesses of your drawing paper to your board, leaving the outer sheet free at the bottom by tacking at the top only. Next, with a sharp pen-knife, cut a hole in the outer sheet, indicated by the dotted lines in [Fig. 45], and throw away the piece which has been cut out. The object of this preparation is this: When you draw the portrait of Washington, represented in [Fig. 45], a portion of your drawing will appear on the outer sheet and part of it—the face—on the next sheet beneath. If your preparations have been well made, the outer sheet will lie flat against the one beneath, and the audience will not see the hole until the proper time comes.]
"I am going to draw first an outline portrait of George Washington, copied from the profile crayon sketch of St. Memin. [Draw [Fig. 45], complete, being careful, in moving the crayon from one sheet to the other, not to tear the outer sheet.] This view shows plainly the style of wig and military clothing of a gentleman of the revolutionary days, and, as we look at it we note what a difference there is between this and the dress of the men of today. Do we also feel that there is a great difference between the men of colonial days and the present time—the same difference in character that there is in dress? If this thought has come to us, we have also asked ourselves, perhaps, this strange question, 'What kind of a man would George Washington be if he were living at the present time?'
"Of course, if he had not performed his great work in helping to shape the destiny of our nation, it is probable that America would have had a vastly different history. We will assume, however, that Washington were a product of the present day and that the present conditions prevailed. What, then, would Washington be like? How would he act? What would he do?